Manufacturing Today Europe Issue 175 April 2020 by Finelight Media Group

Manufacturing BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

today

A can-do attitude

EUROPE

Issue 175 2020

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How Moravia Cans has transformed itself into a globally recognised organisation at the forefront of pioneering technology development

Robots & cobots • Lean • Supply chain • Productivity

Chairman Andrew Schofield

Editor

Managing Director Joe Woolsgrove Editor Libbie Hammond Assistant Editor Will Daynes

Manufacturing

Production Manager Fleur Daniels Art Editor/Design David Howard Advertising Administrator/Office Manager Tracy Chynoweth studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Operations Director Philip Monument Operations Manager Natalie Griffiths Research Managers Jo-Ann Jeffery Ben Richell Editorial Researchers Mark Cowles Tarj D’Silva Jeff Goldenberg Mark Kafourous Richard Saunders Kieran Shukri Advertising Sales Mark Cawston Dave King Theresa McDonald Sam Surrell

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Issue 175 2020

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

Inspiring stories

today

EUROPE

Staff Writer Alex McDonald

A can-do attitude

How Moravia Cans has transformed itself into a globally recognised organisation at the forefront of pioneering technology development

Robots & cobots • Lean • Supply chain • Productivity

was encouraged recently by something I read online, which said at times like this, when you feel a bit hopeless, look for the helpers. Look for those who are doing whatever they can to assist, invent and contribute in some way, to get this virus under control, protect the public or deliver vital services. And so I looked – and the stories of how manufacturers, even those traditionally thought of as the fiercest of competitors, have come together, found ways to work on projects, and created the most amazing technology in the shor test amounts of time is truly inspiring. Whether it is the UK Ventilator Challenge, the brewers and distillers who have star ted making hand sanitiser, or 3D printers who are making face masks and PPE for the NHS, the response from manufacturing has been amazing. I can’t wait to star t featuring the stories of these astonishing companies and their dedicated staff in the pages of MTE in the future and really want to hear from you and what you’ve been doing too.

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PS: I also wanted to highlight that if you have a story to tell, or require help with marketing materials, or have an email blast that you’d like sent out, the team at MTE is very keen to hear from you. We have a dedicated Exclusive Feature team who would be delighted to assist you in sharing your message with a wider audience. Do get in touch! Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and adver tisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effor t is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, and correct at time of writing, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the proper ty of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Features 4 Manufacturing news Updates and announcements from the manufacturing arena

Focus on...

6 Robots & cobots

Manufacturers need to look at the lest invasive solutions to improve productivity and efficiency – such as robots

8 Lean

Lean must be deeply embedded into day-to-day activities, and then the reward for maintaining the approach can be extremely valuable

10 Supply chain

Matt Quinn believes that embracing collaboration and the ‘circular economy’ will help to make supply chains more efficient

Astley

12 Productivity It pays to look beyond the technology of digitalisation and recognise the value of a proper, planned digital strategy

Astonish

Coating Applications

Bruderer UK

Pitreavie

Morgan Innovation & Technology

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Contents 18

Mpac Group

GOVECS

Gtech

Moravia Cans

Consuma Paper Products

Caps Cases

Granada Material Handling

Cotswold Doors Ltd www.manufacturing-today-europe.com l 3

News in brief A matter of ethics Rockwell Automation, a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation, has been recognised as one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, a renowned voice in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. “We are proud of this recognition by Ethisphere, which once again highlights our commitment to ethics and integrity,” said Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation. “We place a high value on integrity in every business decision we make, and that fosters an environment where all employees can and want to do their best work. Our culture of integrity is the foundation of our success and helps us deliver long-term value to our customers, shareowners, and employees.” Rockwell Automation has been recognised 12 times with this honour and is the only honouree in the Diversified Machinery Industry category. In 2020, 132 honourees were recognised spanning 21 countries and 51 industries.

Successful move 3DPRINTUK, a leading service provider of the polymer selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing process for manufacturing applications, has completed the transition to its new purpose-designed facility. Based within the Leyton Industrial Village in North London, 3DPRINTUK made the move at the end of 2019 to accommodate its current and future expansion plans. The new facility boasts almost 10,000 square feet of space, providing an increase of 8000 square feet compared with the company’s previous location. The new building has been custom designed to house 3DPRINTUK’s growing fleet of EOS polymer SLS machines and to fully accommodate all the necessary ancillary and postprocessing capabilities that the company offers clients as part of its service.This includes two rooms fully dedicated to post processing operations for cleaning and dyeing, as well as a dedicated break down room that is fully sealed from external environmental effects and to avoid powder contamination.

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Engine from Aston Martin Aston Martin has revealed further details of its inhouse designed V6 engine, which has been created initially for deployment in a new range of mid-engined sportscars, starting with the Aston Martin Valhalla from 2022. Codenamed TM01 – celebrating Aston Martin’s illustrious engineer of the 50s and 60s,Tadek Marek – the engine has already undergone a series of extensive testing on the dyno, as the team make progress towards creating the luxury British brand’s first in-house designed engine since 1968. Now confirmed as a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6, the full powertrain will be electrified – an aspect that has been key to the engine’s development from day one. In parallel to recent tests, Aston Martin is developing a new range of hybrid systems that will ensure that the complete unit will become the most powerful in the Aston Martin range when on sale.The final power and torque figures for each application of this powertrain will be determined by the desired characteristics of each product it serves and confirmed at the time of launch. Following the Aston Martin Valkyrie - the brand’s first mid-engined hypercar - many key learnings have been directly applied to this project. As a result, the decision to develop the engine with a ‘hot V’ structure was clear from the start, with the configuration allowing for this compact engine to weigh less than 200kg.

Foam for E-Mobility In its new modular MetroSnap concept car, Swiss mobility think tank Rinspeed is once again relying on innovative foam technology from FoamPartner to ensure highly effective acoustic and thermal insulation. “One of the key advantages of electric vehicles is the ability for fast acceleration and low-noise drives. But the latter places higher demands on the insulation of the passenger compartment against rolling and wind noises,” says Kay Kosar, Head of Marketing & Sales, Acoustics & Thermal Solutions (A&TS) Europe at FoamPartner. “At the same time, the power consumed by heating and airconditioning must be minimised to ensure maximum driving ranges. In both disciplines, our advanced foam solutions are in their element.” The design of the MetroSnap builds on the MicroSnap and other concept cars from previous years. The main components of the concept car are a ‘Skateboard’ chassis and quick-change superstructure or ‘Pods’ for passenger and cargo transportation.The fully electric, connected and autonomously moving vehicle takes advantage of state-of-the-art technology from distinguished partner companies. Its encompassing concept – including a composite/steel body, 3D printed components, lidar sensors and a drive-by-wire system – also extends to battery leasing, insurance and payment services.The interior design features cutting-edge equipment, such as a digital cockpit and aircraft seats. “For the interior of the MetroSnap, we paid special attention to providing high aesthetics, as well as being able to offer a durable and protective feel-good environment,” emphasised Frank M. Rinderknecht, CEO of Rinspeed AG. “FoamPartner is the perfect address for us to meet these needs.”

Manufacturing News A cut above Two of the most advanced laser and waterjet cutting systems on the market from Polish fibre laser manufacturer, Kimla, are now on display in the UK after being installed at MBA Engineering – Kimla’s exclusive distribution partner in the UK. The Kimla powercut 6kW LF1530 full linear fibre laser machine and Kimla streamcut 4121 50hp waterjet have been installed at MBA Engineering to demonstrate the unparalleled performance of the Kimla equipment and how efficiently projects can be carried out companies to competitor machinery. Kimla systems boast accuracies of 0.03mm, making it some of the most accurate cutting technology available on the market. The fibre laser now housed at MBA Engineering features a 3000mm x 1500mm bed and changing table, while the waterjet has a 4000mm x 2000mm bed, making them ideal options for manufacturers which require the most precise cutting options available.

Pressing ahead

On March 6th Nissan unveiled a new £52m XL press line in its UK manufacturing plant, as preparations ramp up for the hotly anticipated next generation Qashqai. The press, which weighs more than 2000 tonnes and has taken 18 months to install, is part of a £400m investment by Nissan in readiness for the new Qashqai, which will be the third-generation of the pioneering crossover. The first specially commissioned panels on the press were produced at an official ceremony, led by Nissan Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta, who said: “When the first Nissan Qashqai rolled off the line in Sunderland in 2006 it created the crossover segment. “Designed, engineered and made in the UK, and more than three million vehicles later, it remains the benchmark, just as our team in the UK continues to set the standard for productivity and quality.” The £400m invested for Qashqai comes on top of the £100m invested for the launch of new Juke, and is part of an overall £1bn planned investment into the plant by Nissan over five years.

Roll out the carpet A carpet manufacturer whose products are used on the ocean liner Queen Mary 2 is replacing the RFID tags that help control production at its Northern Ireland headquarters. Ulster Carpets has ordered 10,000 new tags from CoreRFID as part of the expansion of an automated system, which has helped to boost efficiency. Ulster Carpets is the premier supplier of Axminster and Wilton carpets to the world market. At the company’s state-of-the-art Dyehouse and Energy Centre, yarn is dyed to meet the specific colour requirements of every individual carpet. The yarn is then wound on to individual bobbins and placed on the loom to be woven. In the past, each bobbin held the same length of yarn but, as some carpets used more of one particular colour, the loom had to be stopped to replace a bobbin, creating delays in the weaving process.The labels on each bobbin were also easily lost. RFID technology plays an integral role in a system, introduced in 2008, that is more intuitive to the exacting requirements of each carpet being woven.The RFID tag on each individual bobbin provides essential information from Ulster’s database that is critical to the weaving process.This information can be accessed by staff using hand-held RFID scanners and has helped create a more streamlined system.

The success of the system and the company’s growth has led to a new order of 10,000 new tags from CoreRFID. Paul Richardson, yarn supply manager at Ulster Carpets, says: “We manufacture carpet for projects across the world so accuracy and speed are critical. Using RFID technology within our own state-of-the-art systems has enabled our business to create an efficient process that saves both time and money.”

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The potential of

automation

Mark Gray takes a look at the role of automation in Europe’s declining manufacturing sector

t’s been well publicised that modern manufacturing has been shaped by the current landscape of de-industrialisation and the resulting change in composition of output.The European manufacturing sector is resultantly going through a difficult period, which has seen its worst year since 2012 across the continent. Even Germany, the industrial bedrock of the Eurozone had its least productive year since 2009 - with orders dropping nearly nine per cent.These problems have been further exacerbated by factory shutdowns in China, leading to a shortage of components, particularly in automotive manufacturing. Another widespread problem facing the sector is the skills shortage and ageing workforce, with major manufacturers going to great lengths to lessen the effects of these issues. For instance, Porsche are using every possible measure to retain their ageing workforce for as long as they can by making their factories as ergonomic as possible.To reduce work-place injuries they’re altering productions lines and using inventive strategies to protect staff, like suspending and rotating cars at head height so employees can remain seated and not have to look up whilst they work. While these sorts of unique counter-strategies are effective, not every manufacturer has the resources to alter their production lines so drastically

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- whilst managing to retain a profitable output.Therefore, manufacturers need to look to the least invasive solutions to improve productivity and efficiency that doesn’t require a complete restructure of operations.

Robots or Cobots? Traditional industrial robots have much more stringent health and safety regulations, meaning human co-workers have to be separated by fencing and must keep their distance. Which works very well when producing the same product line continuously, as it requires very little human supervision or interaction.These industrial robots are ideal for high-volume mass production settings, but lack the flexibility needed today, which means that even making a minimal change to how or where they operate is costly, timeconsuming and requires skilled personnel to programme them. Therefore, flexible and affordable technology, such as collaborative robots or ‘cobots’, should be a priority investment for manufacturing businesses as this type of technology can be adapted to different tasks as simply and effortlessly as possible.This is ideal for the majority of SMEs, who usually produce much more specialised products which can require day-to-day changes in the production line – often, with little notice.Therefore, the

Robots & cobots

assurance, management and back office.This also has the added benefit for businesses to attract and retain new recruits more easily.

Outlook for the future

ability to be flexible and highly responsive to the industry landscape and customer demands is the number one priority.

‘Mythbusting’ There are many perceived roadblocks to adopting automation. But manufacturers need to disregard the common misconception that automation is out of reach to SMEs as it’s exorbitantly expensive and only reserved for large corporations. What is important is that SME manufacturers are exposed to and aware of the huge range of machinery available, or risk being left behind. Similarly, there’s a widespread fear from employees that automating factory processes will leave them jobless.Though often linked to AI, the truth is automation rarely means having machines thinking for themselves and taking over the jobs of the human workforce. It is actually quite the opposite, as the most successful automation projects use robots purely as tools, which only enhances the existing labour force and makes them more efficient. While it’s true that some tasks such as basic pick and place may become obsolete for employees, overall, they will be more satisfied as they’ll be able to be upskilled into more rewarding positions such as quality

Despite the prevalence of misconceptions about automation and new ways of working, the truth is that the end result will be an increased yield and faster production times with more customisation. A report by the Boston Consulting group (BCG) even asserts that the United Kingdom could use technology to increase industrial efficiency by up to 25 per cent, seeing manufacturing sector growth of up to three per cent per year.This figure illustrates the power of these technologies and is indicative of the potential opportunity for other countries, if they’re able to settle on the right technologies. Of course, introducing cobots and automation isn’t a cure-all for the industry and can’t solve the sectors inherent issues, but it should give manufacturers, of all sizes, a respite from the employee shortages and the demographic ‘time bomb’ facing the sector. Though we’re seeing worrying signs of decline, and the sector regularly achieving milestones of poor performance, this likely won’t last. Embracing new technology should be the long-term solution to enable organisations to increase production efficiency and drive value to ensure future success in the sector.The advent of new technologies like data analytics, robots and cobots, multi-purpose production lines and intelligent machines is quickly making the smart factory a reality. Which will allow manufacturers to produce much more, with less personnel, and dramatically alter the current landscape for the better. v

Mark Gray Mark Gray is UK Sales Manager at Universal Robots. Universal Robots was founded in 2005 to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible industrial robots that are safe to work with. Since then, the company’s cobots have become the most widelydeployed collaborative robot (cobot) manufacturer in the world. www.universal-robots.com

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Lean manufacturing still matters I Sometimes neglected, lean could be poised for a deserving comeback, explains Andy Spence

t’s surprising how many businesses believe that lean manufacturing methods are ingrained in their operations when in fact they are only really scratching the surface. Despite the paybacks that can be gained by optimising processes, improving product quality and eliminating waste, many manufacturers have not maintained their focus on lean. Some manufacturers think they have ‘gone lean’ and that they’ve ‘been there and done that’, but in truth they have dropped the ball – and it’s worth picking up again. We are talking here mostly (though not exclusively) of SMEs. In my experience, leading transformation programmes at manufacturers of all sizes and across many sectors, Tier 1 companies have typically been good at systemising and retaining working practices as part of their manufacturing systems. On the other hand, smaller businesses – although often more agile and entrepreneurial – can be dependent on approaches and knowledge being driven forward by individuals.

In reality some businesses, whilst still talking about lean practices have really reverted to the old industrial engineering approach – activities driven by manufacturing engineers in which shop floor workers have improvements applied to them rather than being truly involved in shaping them to improve performance. Some companies that had developed lean as part of daily life, building an ‘unconscious competence’ around its application have let the focus drift. They have lost this embedded capability, missing out on lean’s benefits without realising it. One reason for the loss in lean focus dates to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. At a time when businesses were reducing headcount, lean experts were absorbed into other roles and the lean drive they championed was seen as secondary. Whilst many of these experts have now been promoted to more senior posts, their deep understanding of lean wasn’t fully passed on or rebuilt in the ranks below them.

Companies such as Stoke-on-Trent-based Unilathe, which is a supplier to both the aerospace and the automotive industry, are invited to be part of the NMCL programme, a new UK government-funded programme for the manufacturing supply chain, which promotes lean practices. Above: Andrew Sims, managing director of Unilathe.

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Lean Below: The team at Unilathe

“ Far from being a toolbox to be applied everywhere or a boxticking exercise to be done once and then forgotten, lean must be deeply embedded in day-to-day activities and practiced continuously Another reason for lean’s neglect is distraction. It’s more exciting activating new ideas, such as digitalisation and Industry 4.0, than it is maintaining older ones. But when preparing for the future, businesses need solid foundations to build on, and lean provides these. Lean leads to continuous improvements made on a solid platform of operational stability. Many businesses believe they have this solid platform when actually it is – as a lean audit would show – rather wobbly, reliant on individuals making manufacturing processes work. It is surprising that companies have become so complacent about lean when its benefits have been so well-proven over so many years. In the late 1980s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a five-year comparative study into automotive assembly plants in Europe, the USA and Japan, and in 1991 a book based on this study (‘The Machine That Changed the World’) revealed how Japan’s competitive advantage was rooted in distinctive thinking and working practices. To summarise those concepts and practices, the authors coined the phrase ‘lean’, and it caught on. So too did the practices, not only in automotive manufacturing but other industries too. By adopting lean – and, crucially, by linking it to output targets – manufacturers around the world set out to recover ground lost to the Japanese. In the last two decades, however, lean hasn’t only been forgotten in some quarters of industry, in others it has also fallen out of favour. By the mid-1990s lean consultancy had become a commodity, too often sold on price and convenience rather than thoroughness and quality. This led to some disappointing results because lean implementation wasn’t what it should be. Too many businesses regarded lean as an isolated set of initiatives without embedding it in their day-to-day operations and managing it as part of overall business strategy. Lean tools and techniques were not – are still not – applied as they should be. To give just one, highly visible example: SQDCP (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost and People) visual management boards are often used solely to fix current problems when they should also trigger the steps necessary to prevent the same problems recurring. Far from being dead, however, lean is still practiced effectively by many larger manufacturers and could well be on the brink of a revival at other large manufacturers and SMEs. Ironically, this is partly due to digitalisation occupying the headspace once afforded to lean. Digitalisation is providing masses of data which can help identify where lean practices aren’t fully embedded, and where there would be efficiency gains if they were. Businesses are being progressive, not backward-looking, in considering afresh the benefits of lean! Proof that lean is still alive but evolving was seen last year with the launch of the new UK government-funded National Manufacturing

Competitiveness Levels (NMCL) programme. It’s an approach designed to make the UK’s advanced automotive manufacturing supply chain, as well as other manufacturers in other sectors, improve competitiveness, raise workforce capacity and increase productivity. And at its heart is much lean thinking. NMCL is designed to help manufacturers of all sizes and stages of development understand how competitive they currently are and develop the specific business capabilities needed to boost their performance. The programme includes an in-depth competitiveness assessment based on company capabilities and the views of key customers. This data is then applied to investment decisions across six areas of competitiveness: quality, cost, delivery (all traditional areas of lean), flexibility, products/technology, and customer experience. There is no ‘one size fits all’ with NMCL, just as there is no off-the-shelf ‘cookbook’ for lean. Introducing, reviving or extending lean practices must be tailor-made for each individual manufacturer and directly related to their business strategy. Every lean activity must drive benefit, with clearly defined objectives and measurable outcomes. Far from being a toolbox to be applied everywhere or a box-ticking exercise to be done once and then forgotten, lean must be deeply embedded in day-to-day activities and practiced continuously. When this is done, the rewards are so worthwhile that manufacturers kick themselves for not going lean earlier or staying lean after they did. v

Andy Spence Andy Spence is General Manager – Aerospace at SMMT Industry Forum. Industry Forum’s integrated team of consultants and practitioners help major global manufacturers and SMEs understand, optimise and improve manufacturing capability and performance. https://www.industryforum.co.uk Organisations can register their interest to take part in the NMCL programme by completing by completing a short questionnaire on the NMCL website: www.nmcl.co.uk.

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Mutual

value

Matt Quinn asks: Is the future of the supply chain circular?

hile driving efficiency is high on the agenda for many companies around the world, it is undoubtedly one of the most important issues that companies operating within the supply chain should be

discussing in 2020. In fact, the impact of optimised, more efficient supply chains spreads much wider than the industry – presenting benefits for business, society, and the planet, as a whole. Now that businesses are investigating the challenges the new decade will present, I think it’s important to reflect on the changes in technology and society that have led us here. Ten years ago, would you ever have imagined that you could order something at midnight and have a realistic expectation of it arriving early the next morning? That’s the reality of today. Consumers are now confronted with unlimited choice – they’re able

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to get things wherever, whenever, however. With this choice comes expectation – people simply won’t be satisfied with slow or inefficient service. We can say with confidence that today, directly enabled by technology; everyone’s expectations have been changed irreversibly. Another direct impact of these changing consumer expectations is added complexity for supply chain networks. And where we have added complexities, inefficiency and waste soon follow. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say the logistics sector worldwide is at a critical point in its history. In addition to unprecedented demand for unlimited choice and the resultant expectation for near-instant results, never before has there been such pressure on the sector with regard to rising fuel prices, driver shor tages and, of course, the growing need to be environmentally responsible. This is a big problem. The fact is our industry is now one of the

Supply chain “ The industry understanding of what constitutes a circular economy is well-established: a shift away from the principle of ‘make, use, and dispose’ with the replacement of ‘dispose’ with ‘re-use, repair, return, recycle’ However, as an industry, we need to show leadership and put our collective skills, knowledge and experience to work to find long-term, sustainable solutions. For a star t, there are many ways we can respond to this dual challenge and make supply chains more efficient – and I truly believe the methodology of this lies within collaboration and embracing the ‘circular economy’. Awareness of the circular economy has never been greater, with a recent repor t by ING revealing that 62 per cent of companies now plan to move toward circularity. The industry understanding of what constitutes a circular economy is well-established: a shift away from the principle of ‘make, use, and dispose’ with the replacement of ‘dispose’ with ‘re-use, repair, return, recycle’. For example, at CHEP we know there are huge wins to be gained through greater customer collaboration to reduce and even eliminate unnecessary empty vehicle movements, of which there are around five million kilometres’ wor th in the UK alone every year, according to the Office for National Statistics. To put that in perspective, that’s almost a third (29.8 per cent) of vehicles driving up and down the country causing pollution and wear and tear on the road network while not actually carrying any goods. Back to the broader issue, and the major obstacle for those looking to adapt their linear business models towards circularity is that businesses need to champion the concept of waste being a planet resource, not a burden. Society generally agrees that pursuing the circular economy is the right thing to do. But all stakeholders in the supply chain must engage in greater analysis of data and assets to identify the solutions that can help achieve the circular economy. It’s impor tant for companies to focus on mutual value – not just as buzz words, but as something real where you’re trying to create value for multiple companies across the supply chain, and for wider society too. v

biggest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, with transpor t responsible for over 24 per cent of all emissions in the EU. And if that’s not enough - supply chain networks generate 25 per cent of all waste globally, largely through corrugate and single use shrink wrap. Larger customers, including retailers and those involved with consumer goods, are becoming increasingly aware of the impact inefficient supply chains are having – whether that be on their resources, reputation and even their bottom line. That’s why many are now setting major public commitments to move towards ‘zero waste’. As the environment and climate crisis are now firmly on the front page and public concern continues to rise, the impact our industry is having on the planet has become socially unacceptable, and we’re now being faced with a dual challenge – to continue moving exponentially more while making dramatically less impact on the environment. So, what is the answer? Well, there isn’t a definitive one.

Matt Quinn Matt Quinn is Vice-President of Northern Europe at CHEP. CHEP helps move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organisation on earth. Its pallets, crates and containers form the invisible backbone of the global supply chain and the world’s biggest brands trust CHEP to help them transport their goods more efficiently, sustainably and safely. As pioneers of the sharing economy, CHEP created one of the world’s most sustainable logistics businesses through the share and reuse of its platforms under a model known as ‘pooling’. CHEP primarily serves the fast-moving consumer goods (e.g. dry food, grocery, and health and personal care), fresh produce, beverage, retail and general manufacturing industries. www.chep.com

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Positive

impact

A digital transformation project can enhance productivity and growth, but a dynamic digital strategy is crucial to its success. By Dr Andy Levers

igital tools such as advanced modelling and simulation and immersive visualisation can help organisations solve complex industry problems and enable increased productivity and growth. However, with even major players like Nike and Lego seeing their multi-million-pound digitalisation projects fail, it pays to look beyond the technology and recognise that the real value in enabling business performance is through the creation of digital strategies, business plans and roadmaps. A digital strategy, which is fully integrated across every company department and function, and comprises long-term plans for change along with ‘small steps’ technological implementation, can greatly improve an organisation’s speed to market for their product and services and add new value to the product lifecycle. The creation of new systems and processes can also drive down operational costs and enhance price competitiveness and profitability. Industry 4.0 is essentially about re-imagining your organisations’

business and operations model, and thinking about the possibilities to change the way you do things given the digital tools available, allowing the business to keep pace with the changes in its competitive environment. This can be daunting, particularly for SMEs, but there is a wealth of expertise, unbiased advice and practical support that companies can tap into to help them develop and deploy a robust digital strategy to drive their change project forward. For example, not-for-profit digital impact centres such as the Virtual Engineering Centre, which is part of the University of Liverpool, offer targeted digital transformation support to SMEs through the £3.9 million LCR4 START initiative. The positive impact of a well delivered, dynamic digital transformation strategy can be swift and significant, as thermal engineering specialist Genlab discovered when it worked in partnership with the VEC.

Case Study - Genlab Background

Partner support

For over 50 years, Genlab has designed and manufactured industrial and laboratory ovens, incubators, drying cabinets, water baths and other associated thermal products. The company has three divisions providing a product range noted for its quality, reliability and performance. It has supplied products to almost every country in the world and has many longstanding employees whose combined technical knowledge has helped make it one of the leading businesses in thermal engineering. Genlab recognised the opportunity of employing a variety of new technologies within the business but did not have the capacity or the specialist knowledge to explore how new tools could support a push toward greater efficiency and new innovation. It wanted to explore how the existing factory layout and current processes could be optimised to improve efficiency and meet growing customer demand for its products, without compromising its handcrafted approach or having to make greater financial investments.

Liverpool University’s Virtual Engineering Centre worked with Genlab to evaluate how the highly skilled but traditional approaches it currently employed could benefit from new digital technologies. Opportunities for innovation included the use of the Industrial Internet of Things for preventative maintenance, exploring improved connectivity of products, and how the current factory layout and manufacturing

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Productivity

process could be changed to improve productivity.The business produces highly customised products, with complex components and processes.The current processes are not highly automated and the challenge was to look for methods to empower a highly skilled workforce with new information for rapid and better decision making. Working closely with Genlab, the VEC studied the existing floor plan and factory machine layout, evaluating process times at different workstations. Using this high-level production data and layouts, the VEC created a full model factory simulation using specialist software, SIMIO.The results enabled Genlab to explore alternative layouts, helping them to understand which layout gained maximum efficiency.

Benefits Using a virtual factory model allowed Genlab to complete this task without risk or interruption to daily operations, as well as allowing them to test a number of solutions quickly and easily. The factory simulation provided insight into optimum staffing levels and demonstrated how to better deploy staff to maximise throughput and predict the consequences of staffing shortages throughout weekly production. The simulation also confirmed that a change in the position and layout of just the stores area could improve output by five per cent per annum.The simulation highlighted ways that Genlab could improve assembly time by 30 minutes, which resulted in an increase in capacity of 20 per cent without any additional investment in new tools or automation.

Working to the future Genlab has identified a number of opportunities for change within its existing factory layout which allows them to remove any constraints and improve efficiency and productivity levels, offering easier access to machinery and improved communication. Based on the real time quality data now being collected, Genlab can improve the visibility of work in progress.This will allow it to optimise its

operations with supply chain partners, reducing lead times between the company and its customers. This approach paves the way for future innovation by highlighting how and where to collect further valuable data from, giving operational managers greater insight for improved production planning and future changes to processes, to increase productivity even further. Phil Crompton Finance Director at Genlab said: “Working with the VEC has introduced the company to a no-nonsense approach to adopting new digital tools as a means to improve productivity. “Factory simulation has brought into focus and validated our ambitions to grow the business. We have explored new possibilities without the risk that normally comes with change management by using virtual tools, and identified the path to a 20 per cent increase in productivity using the factory simulation. “With the VEC’s support, Genlab is excited to explore how Industrial IoT & virtual prototyping can further help us create a new generation of products and to better meet our automotive and industrial clients’ demand.” v

Dr Andy Levers Dr Andy Levers is Executive Director of the University of Liverpool’s Virtual Engineering Centre. With a strong industrial background within the aerospace sector, he sets the strategic and technical direction for the Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC) and Digital Innovation Facility (DIF), that sit within the University of Liverpool’s IDEAS (Institute of Digital Engineering and Autonomous Systems). www.virtualengineeringcentre.com

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A sign of things to come Responsible for some of the most recognisable signage on the high street, Astley is continuously building upon its service offering in order to meet the demands of both new and long-standing clients

ainsburyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, BP, The Co-operative, Hilton Hotels, Frankie & Bennyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, SKY and JET. These are just some of the household names whose signage has become instantly recognisable amongst the general public. Whilst these companies exist in different spaces

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within the retail or commercial sectors, what they all have in common is the fact that they make up part of the customer portfolio of Astley, a creative, innovative, forward thinking signage and brand graphics company with decades of knowledge and experience under its belt.

Astley

From its manufacturing centre of excellence in Gateshead, a second production facility in Kettering, and its satellite offices and warehousing facilities in Leeds and Glasgow, Astley provides signage and brand graphics solutions to clients across the UK and Europe. Utilising industry

leading manufacturing techniques, the company has the flexibility to adapt to the most difficult and intricate of projects. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What sets Astley apart, in my opinion, is its ability to offer a complete, end-to-end service that encompasses every stage of a project, from initial survey and

design, through to final installation and ongoing maintenance,â&#x20AC;? explains Managing Director, Gavin Redhead. The company in its existing guise really began to gain traction around 30 years ago on the back of securing a sizable project with the then

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VISIVE Visive is proud to have supplied Astley for over 15-years with our quality range of LED contour tube for global brands such as JET, BP, Texaco and Essar. As Astley celebrates its 30th year in business and undertake a company rebrand, Visive in turn is releasing new products in its Hi-Lite™30 range, including Border and Chroma, along with a full colour range in Hi-Brow™ (a consistent wash light for illuminating facades). We look forward to working in collaboration with Astley for many more years, and congratulate them on their milestone and successful growth.

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supermarket group Safeway. “Winning and delivering this contract was a big stepping stone for the business,” Gavin continues. “The expertise we gained from this allowed us to go out to market and really show prospective clients what we could do, and that rather than being just a small sign company we were perfectly capable of delivering large roll-out programmes as well.” As Astley’s relationship with Safeway developed, the company would become involved in projects for BP – which at the time had some joint venture sites with the supermarket – and later with the likes of Sainsbury’s – who the company has served since 2003 – and other brands, the likes of which were mentioned at the top of this article. “Our reputation and track record in the years since has really been built on the back of repeat business with clients that have the utmost trust in us to deliver upon their expectations, and that has allowed us to build up a healthy portfolio of leisure, retail, financial and petroleum partners,” Gavin enthuses. When it comes to how it works, Astley has made every effort to ensure that it can manufacture virtually everything its clients

require in house, with only specialist processes being subcontracted to a strong, local network of businesses. “We begin by taking the different raw materials that we require for a particular job and run them through our metal or steel shop, our assembly areas, our acrylic fabrication unit and our sanding bays, before being painted,” Gavin details. “Upon their return, our assembly shop will put the signage together, our full vinyl and digital print facilities are put to work, and we can then install any illuminations ahead of sending the finished product out to be installed. By being able to do all of this in-house, we retain the highest degree of control over the quality of a project, and we have found that this gives our clients a lot of reassurance and confidence.” Astley has also led the way in the signage industry by being one of the first signage companies to attain the BS EN 1090 accreditation for steel fabrication.This ability to guarantee the safety of its product and stamp it with the CE Mark has proved crucial in being able to support its clients’ reputation and has proven a valuable investment for the company. In December 2016, Astley marked a significant

Astley landfill, to increasing employee engagement and developing our occupational health and wellbeing responsibilities, by working with the likes of the Mates in Mind charitable programme to promote positive mental health in the workplace.” By having a workforce that genuinely believes that Astley is the best place for them to be, Gavin believes the company is even better able to deliver the message to its clients that it wants to convey. “It is all about making clients aware of the added value that we can offer,” he concludes. “For us, our work is about more than just making a sign, putting it in place and walking away. It is about forging lasting relationships that we want to nurture with clients that we hope to grow with in the future.”

Astley moment in its recent history when it completed the acquisition of fellow sign manufacturer Sign of the Times. “Our interest in Sign of the Times came about due to our own desire to expand our service offering,” Gavin says. “In them, you have a business much more focused on the more bespoke, design and creative-led projects that we previously did not tend to approach. As such, bringing it into the Astley fold has enabled the combined company to offer every kind of branding solution to its clients.” The task in more recent months has been to increasing align Astley and Sign of the Times so as to deliver a cohesive approach across the company’s manufacturing sites so that all of its clients – be they large or small – receive the same high levels of service going forward.This would culminate in an official rebranding of Sign of the Times as Astley at the beginning of April 2020, alongside a new brand identity for the whole company. “One of the turning points in bringing the two businesses together was the appointment of our Kettering Operations Director, Neal McAllister,” Gavin reveals. “He has helped drive things forward in terms of adopting shared processes and procedures, and in establishing a collective culture.These efforts have resulted in Sign of the Times’ manufacturing operation in Kettering now being accredited to ISO:9001 and ISO:14001 standards, which is going to create even greater synergies between our various sites. “The next phase of this integration that we are currently working on revolves more specifically around our people and our culture as a business. We want everyone that works under the Astley umbrella to feel that they belong and to be working from the same

page going forward, and achieving this will give us a much stronger foundation upon which to grow. When we look back on the last three-plus years, we have already made hugely significant cultural changes, from becoming zero waste to

Products:

Innovative signage and brand graphics solutions

www.astley-uk.com

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Below: MAESTRO-c, side load carton machine

Ingenious

engineering

Basing its success on a long engineering history combined with a willingness to adapt and change, Mpac Group entered 2020 on a trajectory for further growth

Above: Cartoner 4.0 exhibited at Pack Expo 2019 in Las Vegas

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he pedigree of the Mpac Group is one of leadership in world markets, and this position has been achieved thanks to inspired innovation, and a change of direction – in 2017 the company, then called Molins PLC, divested itself of its instrumentation and tobacco machinery business, and adopted the name Mpac Group. Today, focusing 100 per cent of its efforts on the supply of innovative, high-speed packaging solutions and related support services, the Group operates as a single business, principally serving the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and food and beverage sectors. Tony Steels, Mpac Group CEO, is delighted with the progress made since the changes were implemented. “This has been a period of real development as a group and has delivered profitable growth. Since we sold the legacy tobacco machinery and testing business (which was tantamount to selling off the family silver!) we have had a strong balance sheet to support

both organic growth and the acquisitions that we have done since.” This success has been underpinned by the strategy that Tony and his team put in place in 2018, based on what they called the ‘One Mpac business model’ – a global sales and service approach supported by plants utilising common processes, procedures and systems, aimed at delivering consistently high quality projects wherever customers choose to build their plants. “There were some necessary changes to the business culture to promote our One Mpac business model, as it needed a leadership team that absolutely understood the benefits of being a strong global player as opposed to a local silo,” added Tony. “This isn’t easy and I am proud of our leadership team and the progress they have made in bringing the businesses along this journey.” One of the major high points for 2019 was Mpac’s acquisition of Lambert Automation

Mpac Group

Right: Mpac Langen’s Intelligent Machine Interface. Experience greater connectivity, enhanced user experience and access to new capabilities in line with Industry 4.0

Limited (Lambert) a provider of leading automation solutions to the medical and consumer healthcare markets.Typically working upstream in its customers’ product and production lifecycle, the addition of Lambert will enable Mpac to offer a more comprehensive and broader range of automation and packaging solutions to its customers. “Our acquisition strategy was very clear – we targeted a company in the primary packaging space, ideally in the healthcare sector. In addition, we were looking for a well-run business with real latent potential to grow,” commented Tony. “The business was a good fit because it met our strategic intent and a bonus was the great team that already worked at Lambert’s site in Tadcaster.The integration has been very smooth and we now are focused on leveraging the business globally in partnership with our other companies.The acquisition of Lambert is a highlight for us, in that it fulfilled our tactical commitment to be a full solution provider, and has achieved the targets we set when the business became part of our group.”

Lambert had been providing remarkable products and exceptional service for nearly 50 years, and had grown from a handful of staff to an international company. Now called Mpac Lambert, the division focuses on the creation of fast, flexible, cost-effective factory automation platforms for the healthcare sector. Its ingenious machines are based on proven processes with a modular design. Dedicated to providing a truly end-toend service, Mpac Lambert supports the entire product lifecycle, from first prototype to palleted products, from one single purchase order. With Lambert bringing expertise in healthcare to the table,Tony noted that this sector was a major area of focus for Mpac, alongside Pharmaceutical and Food and Beverage. “Our primary focus on healthcare/ personal care has brought some real traction to the business, not least since the acquisition of Lambert, which is 100 per cent focused on this growth market,” he said. “We will continue to develop our product range to support this market with full solutions, and with the

increased scale of the business our customers and potential customers are very supportive of our plans.” Leveraging the Lambert business globally is a top priority for Mpac, starting in the USA, and as Tony explained, further additions to the company’s stable are always under consideration. “Our acquisitions pipeline is robust and we will continue to develop discussions to acquire businesses, which complement our strategy and innovation programme,” he confirmed.This is in addition to the organisation’s focus on organic growth: “We believe our businesses have huge latent potential to provide a broader range of solutions to our customers and potential customers,” he added. Trading alongside the Mpac Lambert division, is Mpac Langen, which designs, delivers and services precision-engineered machinery for the automated processing and packaging of products across the food and beverage, consumer and healthcare goods, and

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MISUMI Founded in 1963 in Japan, MISUMI is a global manufacturer of automation components serving the UK and European markets since 2003. The MISUMI engineering platform - with millions of configurable items - enables customers to significantly reduce drawingparts, and number of suppliers. The MISUMI TOTAL COST SAVING concept allows a sizeable reduction in design- and full supply chain related costs. Trusted as a key supplier for many of the largest global and UK SPMs, MISUMI prides itself on key performance indicators including: Instant online price and lead time confirmation; over 99 per cent ontime deliveries; and supreme quality with 0.002 per cent claims on over a million items.

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Above: The latest addition to Mpac Langenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next generation case packing portfolio; the ALISIO is a flexible side-load case packer that guarantees high productivity

pharmaceutical sectors. Following the Lambert acquisition, the Mpac Langen site in Coventry, UK was also rebranded as Mpac Lambert (its sites in Canada, The Netherlands, Thailand

and Singapore remained unchanged.) Bringing together the two existing UK businesses to trade under one brand name supports Mpacâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy to drive innovation and remain at

Mpac Group the frontline of special purpose assembly and packaging machinery. The new strategies and approaches undertaken by Mpac Group have already been seeing results, with Tony pointing to a strong order book and a vibrant innovations pipeline, and a number of new products scheduled to be launched in 2020. “We will launch full line solutions in the healthcare and food and beverage markets this year based on platform, modular technology, and we are confident in continuing our growth journey,” he confirmed. Another further exciting development is linked to the product development area, as in early March 2020 Mpac Group signed a partnership agreement with Siemens Digital Industries in the UK. Under the new relationship, Siemens Digital Industries will function as a partner to supply end-to-end solutions to Mpac Lambert. The co-operation will boost Mpac Lambert’s robustness and efficiency in delivering digitally scalable machines to its global clients. “Our digital partnership with Siemens will enable us to co-create solutions with digital technologies, make sense of the data and, most crucially, develop it so that we can address customer needs to provide bespoke solutions,” noted Tony. “It is very important to us in order to be fast to the market and have a control and software platform which enables Industry 4.0 functions for our customers and a single intuitive human machine interface (HMI).” Siemens will support the original equipment manufacturer in its value chain with planning and design, engineering and the ordering process to installation. The holistic portfolio of total integrated automation, Internet of

Things (IoT), software solutions is included in the partnership. It is clear that Tony and the Mpac Group team have created not only a solid base from which they can grow the company, but that they are positioning the company at the forefront of technological innovation in order to ensure that their products are ready for the future. “We have an ambitious plan to more than double the size of our business over the next five years,” said Tony, corroborating that Mpac Group has no intention of slowing down its momentum. He also highlighted two further areas where Mpac will be concentrating its efforts: “We see service as an increasingly important product for our customers and so we see this as a strong growth and innovation area especially around Industry 4.0 technologies, which we will launch in May 2020. In fact, we have already launched a number of important new products over the last two years that have Industry 4.0 enabled features, and these provide our customers with future proof investment and increased tools to support OEE improvement. Leveraging our One Mpac business model will also mean

that our customers will be able to have a consistently high level of service wherever they choose to build plants in the world.” With a group mission to be the global leader of high speed packaging and manufacturing automation solutions, Tony won’t be taking his eye off the ball in 2020, but that’s not to say he doesn’t take the time to enjoy the success the business has experienced so far. “The highlights for me are the organic growth the business has been able to achieve together with the focus on service,” he concluded. Add these to Mpac’s upgraded ability to provide its customers with a much more comprehensive support programme to maximise their return on investment, and it is clear that the organisation really does offer the full package.

Mpac Group Services: Packaging machinery manufacturer www.mpac-group.com

Vaplas Vaplas resides in a 10,000sq ft building located in West Yorkshire, and is perfectly positioned to supply and support a wide customer-base within a couple of minutes reach of the M1 and the M62. With CNC mills, lathes, routers and high specification testing equipment, constant reinvestment is what keeps it at the top of its game. Industries Vaplas supplies include: Food processing, Pharmaceutical, Packaging, Beverage, Water treatment, Textiles, Public/Private utilities, Automotive, Chemical processing, Agricultural, Aerospace, Printing, Construction and OEMs. Give the friendly and knowledgeable team a call to discuss your requirements.

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Riding high Utilising a powerful formula of technical expertise, innovative design, and limitless passion, in the space of just ten years, GOVECS has risen from ambitious start-up to the leading manufacturer of electric scooters and light electric vehicles in Europe

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GOVECS

ompiled by Focus-Business magazine, the Growth Championships are an annual list of Germany’s 500 fastestgrowing companies. In October 2019, the magazine named GOVECS as a Growth Champion for 2020, ranking the company number one for the entire automotive industry. It was a fitting way to cap off an extraordinary ten years in business for Europe’s foremost electric mobility specialist. Founded in Munich by Thomas Grübel and Nicholas Holdcraft, GOVECS’ first production facility was established in Wroclaw, Poland, in 2009. Through a dedicated programme of research and development, the company has been able to continuously design, create, and improve its products, enabling it to stay at the forefront

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‘‘

Our vision of clean mobility in major European cities can only be realised with the involvement of traffic-intensive industries. We want to make it as easy as possible for suppliers to switch to electric fleets and offer them a product that not only perfectly meets their needs but is also futureorientated

of technological innovation and solidifying its position as industry pioneers. In response to the growing demand for clean and efficient transport solutions, over the years, GOVECS has produced a line of emissionfree, silent electric vehicles, designed to help consumers exploit the city and its surroundings. In 2019, the E-Schwalbe, GOVECS’ flagship

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product, was tested by the German General Automobile Club (ADAC) alongside seven other electric scooter models.The E-Schwalbe was announced winner of the test, with ADAC noting its unrivalled performance in a number of categories, including drive system and driving characteristics. “We are thrilled that our Schwalbe made it to first place!” CEO Thomas Grübel declared upon hearing the results. “Using our experience in e-mobility, we now produce a product that impresses not only with its highquality components, but also with its strong performance.The ADAC sees it the same way and we continue to write history with the E-Schwalbe.The more fans the Schwalbe has, the closer we come to our vision of clean mobility in urban areas. It is a vehicle that demonstrates how noiseless and emission-free mobility can actually be a lot of fun.” Released in November 2019, GOVECS’ latest creation is the ELMOTO KICK, an electric kick scooter with a top speed of 20km/h. Designed in collaboration with Einhell, a German manufacturer of power tools and electrical craft and garden equipment, the scooter is compatible

GOVECS brand-new cities for GOVECS. Additionally, a mobile service with specially equipped vans will enable vehicle repairs to be made directly at a customer’s location. “We are delighted with the successful conclusion of the deal. In the medium-term, we want to build the best service network in Germany for electric scooters and bicycles, both stationary and mobile,”Thomas stated, as the deal was announced. “It is also a positive signal in the economically challenging times we are currently experiencing. We continue to work consistently on solutions for urban mobility since it is our particular strength.The teams at GOVECS and LiveCycle are highly motivated to share their skills to continue our success story.”

GOVECS with the company’s Power X-Change batteries, which can also be used in over 100 Einhell devices.The high-performance, rechargeable batteries are designed to sustainably reduce electrical waste, meaning that the ELMOTO KICK is the latest in GOVECS’ long line of intelligent, emission-free, climate-neutral urban mobility solutions. After highlighting the rapidly growing delivery sector as a fertile market for growth, in the last year GOVECS has systematically expanded its electric delivery fleet, adding customisable versions of the ELMOTO LOOP and GOVECS FLEX to its already popular PRO CARGO series. With solutions to suit a wide variety of delivery services, from postal and courier to food delivery, GOVECS is already working in partnership with some of industry’s biggest names, including Domino’s Pizza.The improved cost-efficiency and environmental benefits of electric scooters over classic gasoline fleets means that more and more delivery companies are turning to GOVECS. “Our vision of clean mobility in major European cities can only be realised with the involvement of traffic-intensive industries,” Thomas said, explaining the need for electricpowered delivery fleets. “We want to make it as easy as possible for suppliers to switch to electric fleets and offer them a product that not only perfectly meets their needs but is also futureorientated.” Building on the success of the company’s anniversary year, GOVECS is in no mood to slow down in 2020. At the beginning of April, the business announced the acquisition of LiveCycle, a professional two-wheel service provider with six locations across Germany. In purchasing the company, GOVECS has been able to triple its

network of sales and service points. Customers will now be able to purchase GOVECS products, book test drives, and receive professional advice and service work at physical locations nationwide, including in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Cologne –

Services:

Manufacturer of electric scooters and light electric vehicles

www.govecsgroup.com

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Astonishing success

‘‘

An award-winning manufacturer of cleaning products, Astonish is a family business with strong values and a voracious appetite for growth

We are all extremely saddened by the global events happening right now, BUT since being interviewed for this write up – I want to say how incredibly proud and lucky we are for the NHS doctors, nurses and all connected within. We are a Nation that takes this service for granted – an unprecedented time like now only highlights what incredible people these are! I would also like to say how our own ‘Astonish’ operatives have gone above and beyond expectation – making sure that despite the difficult times, they have remained 100% committed to coming into work every day – to ensure essential hygiene products are manufactured and shipped to our much needed customers. Managing Director - Howard Moss

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n January this year, at a lavish Park Lane ceremony, the Astonish Oven & Grill Specialist Cleaner & Sponge was named overall winner in the General Household category of the Product of the Year Awards 2020. The UK’s largest consumer survey of product innovation, the Product of the Year Awards are voted for by over 10,000 people nationwide and the list of winners is a who’s who of the UK’s most well-known blue-chip corporations.To take home this year’s prize, Astonish beat out some of the industry’s biggest brands, including Flash, Dettol and Mr Muscle. An indisputable triumph for the company, winning the award was a particularly proud moment for Managing Director Howard Moss. Almost 50 years prior to the achievement, Howard’s father had just established the business, and was selling the first Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner door to door. From these humble beginnings, the company began a journey of irresistible growth. After demonstrational appearances at The Great Yorkshire Show and The Ideal Home Show, Astonish products were sold to mail order catalogues like Kleeneze and Betterware, before being demonstrated on the television channel QVC. It was at this point that Howard joined the company, a young graduate with a passion for retail. “I just immersed myself into the business at a very grassroots level and soon I started to

see things that maybe my father wasn’t able to see,” Howard recalls. “After that, what was very favourable for me, and something that I am still unbelievably grateful for, was that my father didn’t stand in my way. He allowed me to take the business in the direction that I wanted to go in and that was to get the product into mainstream retail.” Over the next 20 years, Howard led the company through two relocations – the first in 2000, at an investment of around £2 million, and the second in 2010, this time costing almost £5.5 million. Now, in 2020, with a turnover of approximately £32 million, Howard has more investment plans for Astonish. “All being well, we’re relocating again towards the end of 2021 for an outlay of £16 million,” Howard reports. “We’re actually going to be moving to a site directly opposite where we are now.The building will start later this year and it will allow our business to treble its capacity and ensure that our ever-growing customer base is maximised over the next 10 years or more.The new location will enable us to achieve about £80 million in turnover.” The new site is part of what Howard describes as a ‘continuous trail of investment’ in the company. “The money we put into the business goes towards making the working environment better, ensuring that our equipment is updated and best-in-class, developing our products, and

Astonish

designing new packaging. We’ve also just invested in our first ever TV commercial and that ran for three and a half months on ITV.” While shrewd investment has certainly fuelled the company’s growth, Astonish is a family company at heart, and it is clear from talking to Howard that, more than anything, he believes it is people that are paramount to the company’s success. “What we offer is a best in class solution for household cleaning and - under our luxury Moss & Adams brand - personal care,” Howard states. “Yes, we’ve got an incredible product and an incredible brand, but without the best people, and people who truly, truly care, you can’t fulfill those achievements.” The wide variety of schemes Astonish has devised to reward and encourage its staff is testament to the high esteem in which it holds its personnel. Every Tuesday, fresh fruit is delivered to all areas of the business, the final Friday of each month is celebrated with a company-wide lunch, awards are regularly distributed for long-term service and employee of the month, and for 11 years, the company has been taking its staff on an annual trip to exciting locations abroad or in the UK. “I would call these things gestures and measures of goodwill,” Howard explains. “We want to pull our colleagues together and have everybody under that same roof, whether it’s a work event or the final Friday of every month. A lot of businesses have a divide between different departments and people end up forming cliques. I’ve worked very, very hard to ensure that there are no divides in this business. Every single member of our team is carrying out a massively important function and I try to make sure it is recognised.” Unsurprisingly, these measures have helped Astonish to achieve a high rate of staff retention and it is not unusual for multiple generations of the same families to work for the company. “People tend to join us, if not from school, certainly from

earlier in their careers, and they tend to stay with us until they are retired,” Howard says. “Some people who’ve been with us for a long time now have their children working in the business. It really is a close-knit organisation, and no matter how much the business is developing, we’re never going to lose that family feel.” A company as staunchly committed to its staff as it is to its core beliefs, Astonish remains

the UK’s only vegan-approved cleaning brand. Its products are animal friendly, free of toxic chemicals, and 100 per cent biodegradable.The way the company has reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic is a reflection of its ethical approach to business and an example of how family values will continue to influence the way it tackles any challenges the future might present. “Due to the current crisis, demand for our products has grown over the last month,” Howard declares. “We’re directly at the forefront of trying to keep materials and products out there that are going to combat this virus. Our major hope going forward is that we can do our bit to make sure the public continue to receive the very best cleaning and personal care products, at affordable prices, with no adverse effect on the environment.”

Astonish Products: Cleaning products www.astonishcleaners.co.uk

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Long-lasting

performance

From cordless vacuums to e-bikes, Gtech has been creating pioneering products for nearly 20 years and the company continues to innovate

hen Gtech CEO Nick Grey founded the company in 2001, he was hoping to make it a ten-year venture. “I wanted to grow the business to a certain level and then sell it,” Nick says, but almost 20 years later, as Gtech continues to thrive, Nick’s original plans seem like a long-distant memory. “It’s become something I love,” he declares. “I still thoroughly enjoy coming to work. When I walk around, I feel very grateful to everybody here that takes on every aspect of being Gtech.” A large percentage of manufacturing startups fail in their first three years of business, so Nick is justifiably proud to be approaching

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two decades of Gtech. “I can’t believe it’s been nearly 20 years!” he exclaims. “I’ve done my time working from my garage, I’ve worked from my living room, and now to be able to come to work and have such a wonderful team of people, it’s fantastic. The 20th anniversary next year is a big deal for us and we’ll definitely celebrate it.” After a significant restructuring of the business in late 2018, Gtech entered 2019 leaner, and with a clearer focus on improving its efficiency. The introduction of a central data system helped to streamline the company’s data analysis, making it easier to interpret, and in the second half of the year, Gtech began to see the

benefits. “Later in the year, we started hitting our targets again,” Nick states. “We probably had a net profit of about ten per cent, whereas in the first half of the year we more or less broke even. We finished the year with a four or five per cent profit in the end, which was an incredible turnaround during a challenging period. For this reason, we consider 2019 one of our most successful years in some ways.” More recently, Gtech struck a partnership deal with part of the Halfords Group to stock and service its e-bikes. Nick is looking forward to working with the retailer and hopes the relationship between the two companies can blossom into something even greater. “We would like to nurture and support our partnership with Halfords this year,” Nick explains. “Selling bikes from a distance is pretty difficult, so working with Halfords would be ideal for us.” Alongside e-bikes, floorcare technology has always been at the heart of Gtech’s offering and its HyLite product is a fitting representation of the innovative cleaning solutions the company provides. Weighing just 1.5kg, the HyLite is a durable, cordless vacuum that Gtech suggests is proving very popular with owners. “Even 2.5 and 3.5kg cordless vacuum cleaners are too heavy for some people,” Nick points out, “so

Gtech Nick is determined to stay focused on the trials ahead. “Over the decades, you learn the ability to look round corners and see what’s coming,” he says. “Nowadays, we know what challenges are approaching us a good six months before they arrive.” Gtech continues to tackle technological problems and invest in intellectual property, but from time to time, Nick allows himself to remember how far the business has come. “When I walk around the place, when I look in the workshop and the model-making areas, I realise we can make any product we dream of in there. We’ve got everything we need, and all the skills, to build anything from a clean sheet of paper.”

Gtech a lot of consumers who couldn’t use cordless vacuums can now use the HyLite. We get a lot of customers telling us how easy it is to use. It’s tiny and light, but it picks up really well. We’re bringing vacuum cleaners into an arena where anyone from 3 to 103 years old can use them. That’s what we’re working on at the moment.” Improving product quality is another key focus for Gtech in 2020 and Nick recently challenged company engineers to fix all known weaknesses on the company’s entire existing range. “We’ve introduced a special quality report that looks at any products sold within the last three months that have encountered problems. I’ve said to the guys, if you know something can break on our products, fix it,” Nick asserts. “What I want is a situation where, short of someone smashing it with a hammer, we can be sure that our products don’t break.” As Nick suggests, Gtech places great emphasis on creating the most durable cordless products on the market. The company tests its vacuums up to 1000 hours of use - the standard equivalent of 20 years in the home. “Some people can be quite heavy-handed with their vacuum cleaners and some people treat them very well. We’ve got to make products that everyone can use in every scenario,” Nick insists. “We aim to make a product that will continue to work well, month after month, year after year.” Since the company was founded, Gtech’s mission has been to produce the most reliable, high-performance, easy-to-use products on the market. In 2008, Nick was worried that the company was losing its way. “We started making lots of different models of almost the same product, slightly different versions of the same thing, but I put my foot down and said no, we’re

going to develop the products we love.” Subsequently, fuelled by Nick’s passion, Gtech has gone from strength to strength. The company has now sold over 22 million products in 19 countries. It’s an inspirational story, but

Products & services: Cordless appliances, e-bikes and home technology www.gtech.co.uk

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Martin Boaler

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he long and storied history of Moravia Cans began in 1962 when the company was established in former Czechoslovakia as a

manufacturer of tubes and aluminium aerosols. Moraviaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey towards becoming a market leader, however, did not truly commence until the early 1990s, when the business was

Moravia Cans

A can-do attitude Innovative design and a tireless approach to development are the hallmarks of Moravia Cans; a manufacturer of sustainable aerosol cans for some of the world’s biggest brands

privatised and started development as a supplier to the wider European market. Having moved to focus solely on the production of monobloc aluminium aerosols, Moravia

now produces cans for most of the world’s best-known organisations, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Henkel. “The development of the company has

been an interesting story,” Managing Director Martin Boaler states. “The first years postacquisition were about consolidation, but, over the last 20 years, we’ve invested well over 120

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million euros in the expansion of the business and its technical capabilities. We’ve expanded from two production lines to ten production lines and, built our sales progressively so we are now approaching 100 million euros. Unusually, for a supplier from a low-cost manufacturing base, in that time we have also

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become the acknowledged technology leader and product leader in our market segment.” In many ways, Moravia has revolutionised the design of modern aerosol cans. Martin suggests that concepts such as Deep Full Body Shaping and patented 360° Embossing have added to high quality printing to allow

Moravia Cans the production of customisable cans and a wider variety of brand and product design options. “We now have the ability to create a larger range of products, with much greater differentiation in shape and printing. This enables much clearer brand recognition around the package itself and very effectively combats counterfeiting.” As Martin alludes to, research and development has played a defining role in Moravia’s success over the years. It is a large part of what has enabled the company to transform itself from a small, localised, business, with limited international presence, into a globally recognised organisation at the forefront of pioneering technology development. “We’ve always focused on pushing the market forward,” Martin asserts. “We’ve developed and brought to market most of the industry firsts in aluminium aerosols and we maintain most of the leading product positions. We understand what we do and what we can offer versus our competition. We’ve got where we are by a relentless focus on finding ways to add value to the customer’s proposition and we will continue to do that. I think the secret to the company’s success is this kind of clear-sighted sustainable development. It’s in our DNA.” An example of this way of thinking is the company’s continuing move to ever lighter weight products, manufactured by the existing impact extrusion process, but further enabled by patented alloys and production technology. Moravia’s sustainability focus is now further supplemented by the use of the Draw and Wall Iron process (DWI). “Impact extrusion begins with a disk shaped slug of aluminium, and there are limitations to how much lightweighting can be achieved from this base,” Martin explains. “DWI on the other hand, is the process by which all beverage cans are produced and starts with a much thinner coil of aluminium. The detail of the production process is different, but it enables the use of a higher quantity of recycled material and it also allows us to take more aluminium out of the product, while maintaining the structural integrity.” The lightweighting advantages afforded by Moravia’s alloy developments and new manufacturing processes will not only benefit the customer financially but are another key development in the organisation’s relationship with the growing sustainability agenda. “We have always had a focus on sustainability,” Martin declares. “The less material you use, the less energy you require to produce your products, and that energy saving increases with recycling. Lightweighting and recycling have

always been part of our product development focus. Moravia Cans’ products, on an item for basis, will always be lighter than the competition, and often significantly so.” As a member of the Carbon Disclosure Project, Moravia’s sustainability programme consists of a wide-encompassing range of environmental measures, from zero waste to landfill targets, to the installation of low energy heating and lighting throughout its facility. However, it is the inherent light weight and recyclability of Moravia’s product that continues to drive the company’s sustainability agenda. “Aluminium, fundamentally, has a great recycling story,” Martin claims. “Every tonne of aluminium that has ever been produced is still in use today. It’s either being continually recycled, or it is still in place as part of more permanent construction. Aluminium is continuously recyclable, and unlike many other materials that also claim to be ‘recyclable’, it is 100 per cent recyclable directly back into the same product that you started with.” There’s no mistaking that Moravia has always been ahead of the curve in terms of its approach towards sustainability and recycling,

and as consumers become increasingly ecoconscious, the company is well prepared for the future. “The consumer increasingly understands that there are better or worse packaging solutions,” Martin says. “As far as recyclability goes, I would say that steel is not bad, and both glass, and corrugated paper are reasonably good, but aluminium is the best. And all of these materials have significant advantages over plastics, and especially over multi-layer barrier products. We have always had a key focus on sustainability, and I believe that, going forward, the fact that our products benefit from lightweight, reusable, recyclable materials and technologies will be an increasingly important differentiator for us in the market.”

Moravia Cans

Products and services: Manufacturer of aluminium aerosol cans www.moraviacans.cz

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Coated in success A market-leading producer of specialist coated fabrics; Coating Applications uses rigorous methods to achieve its goal of manufacturing the industry’s highest quality PVC covered products

riginally formed in Yorkshire in 1981, Coating Applications crossed the county border in 2010 and moved to larger premises in Accrington, Lancashire. More recently, the company relocated again, this time moving to a factory in the town of Nelson, East Lancashire. A member of The Allied Textiles Group, Coating Applications now operates from the same site as its sister company, William Reed Weaving, a fellow member of the group. Managing Director Simon McLean suggested that the move to Nelson will benefit the coated fabrics manufacturer now and in the future. “Relocating our PVC

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coating operations to our Nelson site was to ensure the long-term viability of this part of the business,” he says. “It will allow us to offer a fast, efficient delivery service and shorter lead times.” With almost 40 years of industry experience behind it, Coating Applications is widely regarded as the UK’s leading PVC fabric coating specialist. Simon suggests that the company’s commitment to progress and development is one of the keys to its long history of success. “We are dedicated to technical innovation and constant improvement,” Simon insists. “Along with our significant expertise, it is part of what has given us a world-wide reputation

for delivering high-quality, high-performance products at competitive prices.” Coating Applications produces a wide range of PVC coated fabrics for various markets, including sports, leisure and technical uses. The products go on to be a part of indoor play areas, bouncy castles, chemical protection suits, camping gear, pipeline repair, and even underground ducting. The company also works with specialist coating technologies, including waterproofing, flame retardance, anti-static, phthalate-free and chemical resistance. “The specialisms we provide mean that our products can be used in diverse performance-led areas,” Simon states. “Our three coating lines allow

Coating Applications one roof. This allows the company to easily monitor and constantly improve its production processes. “All our business and management practices have been independently tested to ensure that they conform to all British, European and International standards,” Simon proclaims. “This includes the demanding requirements of quality management standard BS EN ISO 9001:2015.” With its eyes on the future, Coating Applications operates a strict environmental code of conduct. The company utilises a series of energy saving manufacturing systems, which allow it to create fabrics that comply fully with the Environmental Protection Act of 1991, and further its credentials as a modern, environmentally-conscious organisation.

Coating Applications

Services: Manufacturer of specialist coated fabrics www.coatingapplications.co.uk us to change from product to product quickly, and operate smaller bespoke runs from as low as 500m. This has given us a significant market advantage because it is something that many of our competitors are not able to do.” Permalite PVC is one of the popular fabrics that Coating Applications manufactures. Designed to be lightweight and soft, but highly chemical resistant, Permalite is hard-wearing and offers consumers the optimum compromise between comfort and performance. “Permalite PVC fabrics are intended for use in hazardous environments where chemical splash protection is necessary,” Simon declares. “The range of fabrics suit a variety of situations and degrees of protection. Our Permalite products range in weight from 265gsm up to 440gsm, although, as with most of our products, they can be made bespoke to the customer’s requirements.” The company also produces Caflex and Polyplax products that are ideal for leisure, inflatables and industrial uses. “By using the highest quality UK woven base fabric, either nylon or polyester, along with the best available chemicals, we can create PVC coated fabrics that are widely viewed as the best in the inflatable and soft play market,” Simon reports. “We hold a large stock of Caflex and Polyplax PVC fabrics, in a variety of colours, to ensure quick lead times and fast delivery.” To encourage synergy in the company’s quest to achieve the very highest standards, all Coating Applications’ research development and quality control facilities are situated under

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The stamp of success Adrian Haller - Managing Director

A leading producer of Precision high-speed punching and stamping technology, Bruderer UK has entered 2020 glad to be free of political uncertainty and confident that this could be the company’s best decade yet

or many UK businesses, three years of frustration and indecision came to an end in December last year when Boris Johnson was elected as the nation’s new prime minister. Following the Brexit vote of 2016, in which the country voted to leave the European Union, constitutional deadlock and political turmoil left businesses in limbo as decision makers waited to see what Britain’s departure would look like and when it would be likely to happen. A Conservative victory in 2019 finally gave the business-world confirmation that the UK would leave Europe, restoring confidence to the markets, and providing a welcome and long-awaited boost for a company like Bruderer UK.

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“Before the election, we were in a stalemate due to customers not having the confidence to move forwards,” Managing Director Adrian Haller says. “The result was like a breath of fresh air. We had a flurry of orders and lots of fresh enquiries - to the tune of £10m - over the last six months. It all made for a very positive feeling within the marketplace.” Enjoying the bounce back in 2020, Bruderer - renowned the world over as a pacesetter in ‘high-quality precision punching technology’ - secured £3m worth of projects at the beginning of the year, including the installation of state of the art precision high-speed stamping presses for electronics sector and a 300 tonne Zani machine for the construction

Bruderer UK

industry. The company has been providing precision stamping technology in the UK for over 50 years, and demand for its unrivalled production control, versatility and repeatable quality continues to grow. Electrification is an area of particular interest for the business in 2020, as Bruderer prepares for the electric vehicle market to take off in the years ahead. “Now that, politically, things are settling down, we are seeing markets expand as our customers are focusing on finding a way forward. Before, there was no direction, but now, EV is creating a buzz,” Adrian declares. “We are very much at the forefront of EV, as a lot of parts are metal pressings. We are working with several providers of this technology and we are also looking further into food and packaging markets, which are also very buoyant at the moment, especially as companies look to reduce plastic in favour of canning lines.” Despite the company’s positive start to 2020, Bruderer, like businesses across the globe, has not escaped the impact of Covid-19. However, the company’s resilient nature means that, far from derailing Bruderer’s year, the pandemic has simply forced it to refocus

‘‘

Our service engineers are highly trained within their respective skillsets. We are always keen to develop the abilities of our existing personnel and to take on new team members, providing them with the skills we require for now and the future

its most immediate activities. As Coronavirus continues to put the UK health sector under an increasing amount of strain, Bruderer, a company experienced in working with areas of critical infrastructure, is turning its attention to supporting the producers of vital medical supplies. “A lot of our portfolio is used within the medical industry due to our high precision and production capabilities, together with our tooling components which are relied upon

day in, day out,” Adrian explains. “One major role we play in this area is support. We pride ourselves on being able to react quickly to any of our customers’ demands.” As the digitisation of manufacturing becomes more commonplace, the decade ahead is likely to be defined by technology. In 2020, Bruderer will be investing in, among other things, die laser welding and vision system technology. As a user and manufacturer of new technology, Bruderer is ideally positioned to interpret and predict the latest market trends, and in the coming years, Adrian expects connectivity and smart, autonomous systems to take centre stage. “It’s all about Industry 4.0 and we have actually been compliant with this for ten years now,” he asserts. “Everyone needs to be connected and have the same real-time information and communications across all machines. Interestingly for us, our machines are not only a part of this new drive for technology, but they actually make the technology too. It’s something quite unique and we are proud to be a part of it.” Although the role of technology in manufacturing is increasing, companies still rely

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Bruderer UK on the expertise of a talented workforce to achieve maximum production and Bruderer is no different. As of the beginning of 2020, the company employed 14 members of staff across its Luton headquarters. The importance of Bruderer’s team is not lost on the company’s Managing Director. “Our service engineers are highly trained within their respective skillsets,” says Adrian. “We are always keen to develop the abilities of our existing personnel and to take on new team members, providing them with the skills we require for now and the future.” Developing future talent is a core element of Bruderer’s long-term plans and, having recently taken on a number of apprentices, the company is already training some of the engineers of tomorrow. Adrian believes the programme, which focuses on nurturing Bruderer’s next generation of employees, will have an unequivocally positive impact on the growth of the business. ‘It’s massive,” he insists. “We have a legacy of machines that we need to uphold. Many of these systems have been running in the field for 30 years, so the skills required to operate/ maintain them need to be passed on if we are to continue the service and support for which we are renowned. By training apprentices to a very high level in mechatronics, it not only supports Bruderer, but we add value to other markets too because these young people are then able to go out and apply for new ventures with other employers.” At the beginning of the year, among Bruderer’s plans for the first half of 2020, the company was looking forward to showcasing several new products at the MACH expo. Though Covid-19 has led to projects being delayed and to the MACH event being cancelled, Bruderer quickly adapted its plans, focused on providing emergency support for its clients, and continues to serve the medical, pharmaceutical and Government-highlighted critical production areas.

Beyond the difficulties presented by current events, the future is bright for Bruderer and the company stands resolute and prepared to tackle the social and economic challenges ahead. Clear-sighted and unwilling to catastrophise, Adrian hopes that the situation can be used as a learning experience for the company, the industry, and the country at large. “If there is anything we will learn from this pandemic, it’s the importance of manufacturing and how vital it is for us to make sure that, as a country, we are self-sufficient and not reliant on any other countries for key products. Brexit will give us the platform to go out and show the world what the UK is good at,” he proclaims.

Bruderer UK

Products: Producer of

Precision high-speed punching and stamping technology www.bruderer.co.uk

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Production line for 100 sheet facial tissue boxes

Pulp distinction

Oday Abbosh

A major manufacturer of facial tissues, toilet paper and kitchen towel, Consuma Paper Products is an industry innovator on a continuous quest for improvement

s part of the company’s long-term plans, Consuma Paper Products has set itself a mission to ‘challenge the status quo’. It is something that Managing Director Oday Abbosh has been doing successfully since 2012, when he devised a scheme to create the world’s first round paper towel. Bringing the concept to life involved moving to Italy and inventing new equipment, but in 2013, Ora hit the market. Since then, the product has gone on to win multiple awards and is now available from some of the world’s biggest retailers, including Amazon and Tesco. With the success of Ora in mind, Oday hopes to inspire a culture of creativity and a desire for continuous improvement in those working at Consuma. “It’s all about engendering a way of working where people are not afraid to put their hand up,” he says. “It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been working for the business, I want an environment where staff can say, actually, I think we could do this slightly differently. We don’t want people to

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just be happy with things because they’ve always been done that way, but to actually have the confidence to challenge it and to put suggestions forward.” Consuma began trading in 2018 after Oday acquired Staples Disposables and moved the Ora equipment into the existing Staples facility. Today, with just under 20 lines in the factory, Consuma possesses a highly advanced, versatile set of machinery with the ability to design and produce a broad range of paper products. Still, the company is always looking for ways to develop. “We are making multi-million-pound investments across the operation to make sure that we can benefit from the latest equipment available,” Oday reveals. “It enables us to drive up capacity and therefore increase the volume of business we are able to offer. The more efficient we are as an operation, the better it is for our customers.” Alongside Ora, Consuma produces kitchen towel, toilet paper and facial tissues for some of the UK’s leading supermarkets. “If you buy any tissue product in a Marks & Spencer store,

we make it for them,” Oday explains. “That’s toilet paper, that’s kitchen towel, that’s facial tissues. Similarly, if you go into places like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi or Lidl, by and large, we make an awful lot of their facial tissues. That’s about 70 per cent of our output.” To help drive the business forward, Consuma is committed to a programme of investment in people. Over the last two years, the company has strengthened its team with around 20 new members of staff. These new hires include a number of engineers, an Operations Director, a Sales Director, and a Continuous Improvement Manager – a newly created role for the business. “We’ve put a lot of effort into recruitment and clearly, the best thing that anyone in a leadership role can do is to hire the best talent. If you get that, everything else takes care of itself,” Oday states. “A high-level objective for us is to become an employer of choice in our region. We’ve had a major overhaul of our HR policies and employee rewards system. If someone is looking for a career in manufacturing, account management, sales, or

Consuma Paper Products As well as facial tissues and household towels, Consuma also manufactures large volumes of own label toilet rolls to high street retailers

within the next few years, Consuma will experience substantial growth. “We bought the business with the very clear intention to invest in it and to build it over time,” he declares. “One of the things that has made this business successful in the past is its ability to respond to customer demands and requirements; it is fundamental that we maintain and build on that. Going forward, I think we can outmanoeuvre some of the very large players in terms of how responsive and how agile we are. In time, I think our customers will start to see more from us on the innovation front than they will ever get from the much larger outfits.”

Consuma Paper Products Products:

Manufacturer of facial tissues, Ora Household Towels, the groundbreaking round household towel launched by Better All Round in 2013

kitchen towel and toilet papers www.consumapaperproducts.co.uk

finance, we want them to think of Consuma Paper Products as a company where they want to go and work.” The influx of new talent is a positive sign for Consuma, after what has, at times, been a challenging couple of years for the industry. Brexit uncertainty and a rise in the cost of pulp created what Oday describes as ‘a major headache’ for the company, but despite the difficulties, Consuma has continued to make great strides both financially and ethically. “We have been able to grow the business at the top line and that’s very satisfying,” Oday asserts. “We are constantly winning new customers and we’ve continued to service and retain our fantastic existing group of clients. At the same time, we have stayed true to our commitment to sustainability by removing plastic from our packaging, preventing ten tonnes of it from entering the retail chain – the equivalent of 24 million plastic drinking straws.” With the beginning of 2020 dominated by the outbreak of Covid-19, Oday has been pleased by how the industry has reacted to the pandemic. “Everyone is being flexible and helping each other out. We are collaborating with companies who perhaps, historically, would have been seen as competitors. On a personal level, it is something that I’m very proud to be a part of and our customers have appreciated it immensely.” Though the uncertainty of the moment makes it a difficult time for businesses to predict the future, Oday is confident that,

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The perfect package Having reaped the rewards of a five-year investment strategy during 2019, Caps Cases intends to spend 2020 building upon its recent successes, while continuing to target fresh growth opportunities both internally and externally

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s detailed previously by Manufacturing Today Europe, for Caps Cases – one of the largest independent manufacturers of corrugated cardboard packaging in the UK – 2018 was very much a year of consolidation for the company. During this time, an amalgamation of its manufacturing activities into its facilities in Glasgow and Newmarket, helped to significantly streamline operations, setting the stage for what Managing Director Trevor Bissett anticipated would be a healthy 2019. Catching up with Trevor in March 2020, it is hear tening to hear that his prediction for

the preceding 12 months proved accurate. “Last year was a good one for business, with a healthy growth rate of approximately four per cent being recorded and a good return on investment being made,” he says. “Much of this growth was driven by the fact that our existing customer base also enjoyed strong levels of performance, and the most impor tant thing from my perspective was that Caps Cases continued to keep all of its customers happy and did not let a single one down in their pursuit of better packaging solutions.” In fact, Caps Cases has been keeping its customers more than happy since 1982,

Caps Cases

‘‘

As is the case at all times, we remain fully focused on our ‘on-time-in-full’ performance and on providing the very best levels of service possible in all that we do

seemed a logical one for is to push forwards with as a business, we now feel well placed to meet this demand head on due to the investments we have made in both digital and flexographic equipment and the skills we possess within the business.”

Said equipment makes up one element of a dedicated five-year investment strategy that the company successfully concluded in 2019. “As discussed in our previous conversations, investment during this time period has included the purchase of

when it was founded by Chairman Charlie Bissett and Peter Bush. Since then, it has constantly aimed to deliver quality cardboard packaging at competitive prices by utilising a mix of state-of-the-art production technology, high-quality customer service and advice, and access to an unmatched range of products and services. “In more recent times, we have found par ticular success in our ability to aid brand owners that wish to use there packaging as a way of communicating with consumers,” Trevor details. “This tends to coincide with a greater requirement for higher standards of printed graphics. This has always been a strength of ours and therefore it

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additional high-quality digital and flexo post printing equipment, and more recently in the machinery and tools necessary to deliver selfadhesive, self-sealed packaging to our growing por tfolio of e-commerce customers,” Trevor states. “The final phase of this par ticular programme, which took place in 2019, saw us concentrate our effor ts on fur ther improving our employee facilities so as to better their welfare at work. This included building an entirely new canteen unit, refurbishing the existing one, and modernising all of the communal washrooms and associated spaces. I am happy say that all of the above has had a very positive impact on morale, however it does not represent the end of our investment plans. We are constantly looking at ways to improve par ts of the business, so to that extent it’s fair to say that we are not resting on our laurels.” An example of where the next cycle of investment will be heading can be seen in the company’s present-day effor ts in devising an improved means of printing of both sides of its materials in one pass. “This is a process that we have already found to be extremely beneficial – producing printed, double-sided materials with just a single touchpoint – therefore it makes sense to be examining the possibility of investing in new, specialist machinery to make our capabilities in this field ever-more efficient,” Trevor adds. “We are currently having positive

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Caps Cases

conversations with our trusted suppliers and contacts about this issue, and look forward to adding new equipment to our roster in the coming months.” As has been the case for several years now, Caps Cases – with its use of water-based inks and paper-based end products – has found itself at the forefront of meeting its customers’ increasing need to address the sustainability and environmental credentials of their packaging. More recently, however, with a high percentage of its existing customers having addressed these concerns, their attention has turned more towards issues surrounding wastage and efficiency. “An area of concern for a growing number of our customers lies in making sure that they are not sending out unnecessary packaging space through their respective courier networks,” Trevor continues. “By focusing in on factors like pack size and the rationalisation of our range of products, we are helping to address the evolving needs of said customers.” For 2020, Caps Cases has designs on achieving similar growth rates to those

achieved in 2019, while at the same time retaining the impetus it has when it comes to continuous self-improvement. “As is the case at all times, we remain fully focused on our ‘on-time-in-full’ performance and on providing the very best levels of service possible in all that we do,” Trevor concludes. “We are also constantly measuring key KPI’s around responding to enquiries within a cer tain timescale and attracting new business, to name just two. Most impor tantly of all, our people continue to display their collective ability to pull in the same direction, leading the business forward, and so long as this remains the case Caps Cases will be well placed to meet our targets and goals.”

Caps Cases Products: Corrugated cardboard packaging www.capscases.co.uk

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Box clever As Pitreavie Group celebrates the opening of a brand-new corrugated box manufacturing facility, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ambitious expansion plans and unrivalled customer service are a reminder of why it remains Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading provider of packaging solutions

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Pitreavie

stablished in 2010, Pitreavie was founded on three key values that continue to influence the way the company operates today: passion, innovation, and care. For an organisation in seemingly perpetual motion since its inception, these core principles have helped guide Pitreavie through a vast campaign of expansion and growth that has resulted in it becoming the largest independent packaging solutions provider in Scotland. “We’re very clear about our business plan,” Group Managing Director Stephen Heslop asserts. “We recruit people that have a passion for delivering service excellence. We look for innovative solutions for our customers and in our own internal processes. We care about our customers’ products, the relationship we have with our customers, and most importantly, we care for our employees. Our focus remains on how we develop, retain and bring new talent into our business that meets our values.” From the very beginning, Pitreavie highlighted customer service as an area that could help to distinguish the company from its competition. “To differentiate ourselves in quite a busy marketplace, we had to be better than anybody else at customer care,” Stephen explains. “Our mantra has always been to provide customers with a service they are going to be delighted with and that primarily means, if a customer orders today, then to all intents and purposes, they will be able to get their product by tomorrow.” Pitreavie’s expedited delivery service is part of the company’s Stock & Serve Solution, a customisable offering in which Pitreavie guarantees to hold an agreed amount of stock for a customer, and deliver within a certain time frame, in exchange for a short-term future commitment. The system is indicative of the way the company conducts its business. “As far as we’re concerned, we don’t sell packaging, we sell solutions,” Stephen states.

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“Whilst we may supply a lot of consumable packaging items, where we really add value for our customers, and how we’ve been able to grow the business, is we solve problems. For example, we’ve got a customer for whom we designed a bespoke timber transit pack. It has probably five different material components that we assemble and put together, and it gives the client a complete package. There are very few people in the marketplace who can offer that broad a solution.” Alongside a creative approach to customer service, the success Pitreavie has achieved over a relatively short period of time is largely the result of a strategic journey of acquisition. Focusing on targets that would complement or extend the company’s existing range of capabilities, Pitreavie acquired six companies over the course of its first ten years in business. These included Anderson’s Packaging and Snapco, which were seen as geographical expansions, and Sorbafreeze, Leiper Associated Packaging, and CP Cases, which took the company into new markets. In 2019, Pitreavie began to reap the benefits of the sustained programme of investment. An additional benefit from the acquisitions has been the knowledge and experience of the existing staff that have continued to work in the business. “Last year was certainly our most successful year revenue-wise, which is obviously off the back of all the acquisitions we made,” Stephen reports. “Traditionally, we’ve been seeing growth at an average of around 18 per cent a year; it flattened a little bit in 2019, but we’ve now seen that start to accelerate again in 2020 and we hope to see it grow further with the construction of the new facility.” Pitreavie’s new manufacturing site opened its doors in March. Located in Cumbernauld, Scotland, the factory is a 57,000 ft² unit with the capability to produce over 30 million cardboard boxes a year. Stephen sees the Cumbernauld development as a significant step towards the company’s goal of moving from a merchant to a manufacturer. “Looking ahead we see most of the value in the future coming from products that we manufacture ourselves and a number of the acquisitions we have made over years have moved us in this direction,” Stephen says. “Encouraged by our experience with Leiper, a small corrugated manufacturer, we decided that we wanted to manufacture corrugated boxes at some sizeable scale, in a marketplace that hadn’t seen much investment in Scotland for the last 20 to 25 years. We are a converter, so we take corrugate sheets, in various sizes, from our supply partners, and we then convert it into a

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Pitreavie

box. From the new site, we are now capable of supplying large, well-known brands, in the food and drink sector, with significant volume lines.” Alongside the new facility’s considerable production capacity, it also contains an ‘Imagination Room’. This is a series of suites where Pitreavie’s team of experts work alongside clients to look at everything from their supply chain, through to storage solutions and how they package their products. In line with the company’s core values, it is a level of detail and care that Pitreavie extends to its employees, especially in light of the Coronavirus outbreak currently impacting businesses worldwide. “The executive team is 100 per cent focused on the people within the business, and that’s how we’re approaching Covid-19,” Stephen declares. “As an organisation, we value people above anything else. All our efforts are on asking ourselves, what provisions can be made for our staff? What facilities can be put in place? We are taking it a day at a time, but what we are certain about is that people are fundamental to how we are going to build and be successful in the future.”

Pitreavie

Services: Packaging solutions www.pitreaviegroup.co.uk

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Making a positive difference

With a passion for innovation at its heart, Morgan Innovation & Technology (Morgan IAT) is ramping up its efforts to provide its clients with a complete manufacturing operation that will support the creation of the medical and commercial equipment of the future

ince 1987 – the year it was formed by Howard and Sue Clarke – Morgan Innovation & Technology (Morgan IAT) has been driven by a desire to make a positive impact upon the world by designing, developing and manufacturing innovative products for the medical and commercial industries. Providing a professional, innovative service throughout the entire lifecycle of a product, Morgan IAT utilises its ‘Innovation 2 Income’ ecosystem – consisting of R&D, manufacturing, commercialisation and funding – to give its clients the best chance of getting their products to market. Over the last several years, Manufacturing Today Europe has documented several key events in the company’s history, including its 30th anniversary in 2017 and the launch of its MIAT Prize competition in 2018, which was established to identify and support the next generation of world changing innovators. Speaking once again with Chief Executive Officer, Nigel Clarke, at the beginning of March 2020, he is happy to discuss the efforts made by the company in 2019. “2019 was a very good one for Morgan

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IAT,” Nigel begins. “Among the highlights, we experienced the continuation of strong working relationships with several American companies, and the winning of what will ultimately be our largest ever development contract, which we hope to be able to speak more about at a later date. In the meantime, our export activities remain a big part of the business, with the United States remaining our biggest partner, however we are also making great strides in developing

products for the UK market, which we hope will ultimately be franchised out on a global scale.” Last year was also another successful one for the MIAT Prize, with the winner being announced as Robert Paterson of the company ORB, for his Smart Mouthguard creation, designed to prevent the misdiagnosis of sporting head injuries. Also among the finalists was Peter Astbury from Astinno, who presented to the judging panel his idea for a smart bracelet, dubbed Grace, that has been designed to support women experiencing hot flushes. By tracking temperature, pre-empting when a flush is about to happen, and reducing body heat via a localised cooling mechanism at the wrist, the device works to counteract symptoms including sweating, shortness of breath and a reddening of the skin. “As of the start of 2020, we initiated an Innovate UK grant with Astinno to help fund the development of Grace through the course of this year,” Nigel explains. “Working in conjunction with project partner Loughborough University, the overall aim of this initiative is to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of Grace,

Morgan Innovation & Technology (Morgan IAT)

ultimately by creating prototypes and later validating performance.” A number of Morgan IAT’s own product innovations also continue to progress steadily towards launch. “One of note is our CombiPod Thermostation, which is a contrast therapy unit used in the treatment of sports injuries and in the field of physiotherapy,” Nigel adds. “The result of a contract awarded by Thesis Technology Products, the CombiPod is currently involved in clinical trials and we expect to see it launched commercially during the latter stages of 2020. “Elsewhere, we have also been working closely with a company called TrueInvivo to develop a micro silica detector array and automated reader, with the aim of improving the accuracy and safety of radiotherapy treatment worldwide.This product is currently progressing through regulatory testing with a view to a 2020 launch. Furthermore, we have recently begun developing an asset tracking device in partnership with a company based in Fareham, and we continue to move in a positive direction with the development of our anti-snoring device prototype.The latter we hope to be running small user trials with this year, ahead of a potential commercial launch in the near future.” Away from individual product development, a major push for Morgan IAT in recent years has been its ongoing drive to diversify into a complete manufacturing operation. “One of our biggest selling points is that we place a huge emphasis on designing all of the products we work on with a view to them progressing through to manufacturing,” Nigel states. “We take a holistic approach to each project we embark upon, retaining close relationships with our various metal work and moulding suppliers to ensure that once complete a product not only looks good, but that its path through mass production runs smoothly. “Going forward, expanding our own manufacturing base in order to better support our partners and clients in the development of innovative products is an area of ever-increasing

importance for Morgan IAT. We have already undertaken a revamp of our manufacturing area, relocating and expanding storage space, and opening additional production lines. We will also be making future investments in automating various processes which will complement our existing assembly and testing capabilities. With the necessary capacity in place, and with further spending aimed at bringing in the latest technologies and processes already committed to, we hope to target more of those companies looking to manufacture their designs here in the UK in the near future.” Morgan IAT has designs on more than doubling its existing turnover in the next few years, and as Nigel goes on to conclude, achieving this aim will require a three-pronged strategy. “Moving more into manufacturing is

one of these strands,” he says. “The others are continuing to diversify our activities – by not only focusing on our medical product partners, but also on more commercial projects – and speeding up the development of our own product designs such as the anti-snoring device. In the meantime, we will not lose track of the things that have been so successful for us recently.That includes the recent launch of the MIAT Prize 2020, which will again give us first-hand insight into the next generation of game-changing innovations that we can hopefully support.”

Morgan Innovation & Technology (Morgan IAT) Products:

Designs, manufactures and builds medical and commercial equipment www.morgan-iat.co.uk

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Raising the bar Delivering innovative industrial lifting equipment solutions since 1980, Granada Material Handling is enjoying a period of extraordinary growth that has seen the company break into the Sunday Times International Track 200

ervicing both onshore and offshore industries, Granada Material Handling has become a leader in the design, manufacture and installation of industrial

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lifting equipment and a provider of unrivalled full life-cycle support. A company that prides itself on creating bespoke solutions that meet customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; specific needs, Granada combines engineering

Granada Material Handling

excellence with ground-breaking software to provide material handling equipment and systems that set new standards in thoroughness and efficiency. After 40 years in business, Granadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

mission remains the same as when the company was founded â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to offer competitive prices for simple maintenance regimes and robust, long-life solutions that are safe and operator-friendly.

A recipient of numerous honours throughout its history, Granada has been recognised with a RoSPA Gold Award three years in a row. RoSPA Awards are presented in recognition of

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a company’s practices and accomplishments in occupational health and safety, and Granada’s winning streak ranks among the company’s proudest achievements. For Granada, health and safety is every bit as important as technical ability. Whatever the project, the company aims to

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rigorously identify, assess, manage, and, wherever possible, eliminate risk. This commitment to leaving nothing to chance extends to the company’s use of technology. Granada’s policy has always been to stay at the forefront of technological change, and in direct response to customer demand, the company introduced its custom designed DATAHUB software. A result of significant investment, the system is exclusive to Granada and has been designed to meet the very specific needs of lifting equipment management. Whilst DATAHUB provides all sectors with vital data, it is particularly helpful offshore, where it reduces the risk of turbine downtime by providing quicker, simpler, more efficient access to critical equipment data. With locations across the UK, and expertise amassed over multiple decades, Granada finds work in many different sectors, but is particularly experienced in the automotive, construction, aerospace and renewable industries. Currently, around half of Granada’s business comes from the energy sector and a global surge in the offshore renewable market has resulted in a period of rapid and significant growth for the company.To date, Granada has supplied over 400 offshore marine davit cranes to the sector and the tailored solutions it is able to provide range from supply boats to on-turbine handling. In 2019, as part of the company’s work in the offshore wind sector, Granada delivered and commissioned a large number of Python davit cranes for Smulders Projects Yards and began new projects for Engie Fabricom at the Moray East and Triton Knoll wind farms. Later in the year, Granada was named as davit crane supplier for Moray East and awarded a contract to supply 100 units. Approximately four metres in height, and with a lift capacity of 990kg, Granada’s Python davit cranes offer a lifting capability that sets new standards of reliability and efficiency.There are already 1000 Pythons in operation on offshore wind farms across the world. Granada Managing Director Mark Sidwell was understandably thrilled when the news was announced that Moray East would be the latest wind farm to put the crane to work. “As the UK’s leading davit crane supplier to the offshore industry, we are ideally placed to deliver on this major contract,” Mark declared. “In a competitive sector – globally, as well as nationally – it is very good for Granada’s staff, who will be delivering on the project over the next six months, and equally positive news for our own UK-based supply chain.” The increase in offshore wind demand, and the company’s ability to capture projects like

Granada Material Handling

Granada Material Handling Services:

Industrial lifting equipment solutions

www.gmh.co.uk

Moray East, have contributed to Granada’s meteoric growth over the last two years, resulting in the organisation being named in The Sunday Times International Track 200 for 2020. Now in its 11th year, the list is made up of the top 200 firms with the fastest-growing overseas sales. Granada ranked 28th – an exceptionally high position for a first-time entrant. “Our ranking is based on achieving over 98 per cent two-year average international sales growth per annum, up to September 2018. Further growth in sales since the data was compiled points to a very healthy picture for us,” Mark said, commenting on Granada’s inclusion. “We’re all delighted to have our international growth strategy recognised by this prestigious listing.” Unsurprisingly, Granada’s reputation has, over the years, helped it secure work with some of the world’s most well-known brands. The company’s extensive list of past clients includes such names as Heinz, JCB, Airbus and Jaguar.Though many customers take advantage of Granada’s vast range of gantry cranes, light cranes, jibs and hoists, and heavy winches, it is the company’s ability to design and manufacture bespoke handling systems that separates it from its competitors. Among Granada’s most high-profile tailored projects, the company has produced a customised manipulator for Rolls-Royce and a window cleaning solution for Heathrow’s Terminal Five control tower.

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Unlocking the future

After 15 years in the industry, and with a client base that continues to grow, Cotswold Doors Ltd has forged a place for itself among the UK’s leading suppliers of doors, doorsets and screens

stablished in 2005, Cotswold Doors is a family business at hear t. Dave Campbell founded the company with the intention to supply the construction industry with doors and doorsets, and in 2007, was joined by his son, Simon. Since then, the company has grown year-on-year, relocating to the Cotswold town of Fairford in 2017, and solidifying itself as a leading exper t in the door industry. As the company has grown, so has the size of its staff. Far removed from the small team of Cotswold’s early years, the business now boasts an experienced group of estimators, a sales unit scattered around the UK, and a number of doorset and ironmongery exper ts. Distributed across the company’s three manufacturing sites, Cotswold’s longstanding workforce is industry renowned for its attention to detail and the reliable, professional finish it applies to every Cotswold product. The success of Cotswold Doors begins

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with superior quality raw materials. All wood that the company uses is FSC cer tified, which not only helps to improve forest management worldwide, but is research proven to bring a company improved market access, higher revenues and an enhanced public image. The sustainable materials used by Cotswold go on to become the company’s diverse range of doorsets, doors and screens, eventually being distributed to the education, leisure, hotel, residential and commercial sectors, as well as the construction industry and HMRC security. Versatility and a willingness to adapt to a customer’s needs means that, over the years, Cotswold has worked on many different projects across a variety of sectors. These include Derby Arena, a 5000-seater venue that plays host to a wide range of spor ting and enter tainment events. The indoor arena, which can also be used as a velodrome, was opened in 2015. Fighting off tough competition, Cotswold was selected as the door supplier for the arena’s construction,

providing a huge volume of bespoke, madeto-measure doorsets to suit the building’s sleek, ultra-modern design. One of Cotswold’s largest projects was at Wapping Wharf, a major residential development in the hear t of Bristol. As par t of the contract, the company provided nearly 2500 residential apar tment doorsets. Delivered on time, and tailored to the client’s exacting requirements, the doorsets were manufactured and supplied using FSC approved American White Oak. The project has since led to Cotswold supplying products for many other significant residential developments across the UK. The company’s rising reputation as one of the industry’s most trusted and reliable service providers means that Cotswold continues to secure work from some of the UK’s most high-profile clients. In 2015, the company was selected to supply doorsets as par t of the refurbishment of UWE Glenside Hospital’s Children’s Teaching Ward. With

Cotswold Doors Ltd safety and privacy at a premium, Cotswold was able to manufacture customised fire rated and acoustic doorsets, well within the hospital’s project timeframe. More recently, on the back of its work for the teaching ward, Cotswold was proud to be involved in the latest of a long line of military projects. The military accommodation scheme, located near Cotswold’s head office in Gloucestershire, was being reconfigured from an RAF operations facility and the company supplied doorsets and ironmongery as par t of the renovation. Always looking for ways to build on its success, at the end of 2019, Cotswold joined Secured by Design (SBD), the police’s national crime prevention initiative. The company can now supply fully tested and cer tificated fire and smoke rated doorsets - ranging from FD30S to FD120S - that meet and exceed the requirements of BS476: Par t 22 and BS476: Par t 31.1. Cotswold can also manufacture acoustic rated doorsets from 29db up to 42db and security rated doorsets that meet all SBD requirements. “Cotswold Doors are delighted to be joining the Secured by Design scheme with a range of dual cer tificated PAS24 security and fire rated doorset solutions to suit any project,” a spokesperson for the company said when the news was announced. “Our company has many valued customers, including major construction contractors and architects. The addition of our Secured by Design accreditation to our extensive cer tification por tfolio, fur ther combined with our expanding production facilities and growing number of knowledgeable, skilled staff, ensures that we are in an excellent position to suppor t our valuable clients, and their projects, with a first-class service and product quality for many years to come.” SBD Development Officer Emma Snow was equally excited to have the company on board. “I’ve been working with Cotswold Doors for a few months now,” she said. “It is great that they have achieved cer tification and chosen to join Secured by Design with their dual cer tificated doorsets. I look forward to working with them in the future.”

Cotswold Doors Ltd Services:

Manufacturer and supplier of doors, doorsets and screens www.cotswolddoors.com